Pakistan to seek US cooperation in nuclear field

Islamabad, Mar 2: The Indo-US understanding on the implementation of the civilian nuclear deal today (Mar 2, 2006), evoked an ambititious response from Pakistan who said it would also seek American cooperation in this vital field.

''We have the same claim and expectation for international cooperation under safeguards for nuclear power generation, especially because Pakistan is a fossil fuel deficit country and has a significant and fully safeguarded nuclear power generation programme,'' Foreign ministry spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said.

Commenting on the agreement reached during the US President George W Bush's ongoing visit to India, Aslam said the agreement represents an important relaxation of the NSG's existing guidelines and transfer of civilian nuclear technology from NSG members to non-NPT States.

She added that Pakistan's civilian nuclear power generation programme is under IAEA safeguards and ''we accept all appropriate safeguards for nuclear power reactor in this sector''.

UNI